The Observation

I had a great day. Her room was clean and organized. The kids clearly knew exactly what they were supposed to do at every part of the day. She circumvented behavior issues by keeping them on their toes and quietly asking them to analyze how they were working. I loved how she taught, but, I'm happy to say, that I love the way I teach even more after I saw her room. I obviously know what works for my personality and teaching rhythm.

I felt good about what I learned and great about how I teach.

I took a few pictures of some of the stuff I learned. The most important one being that she tracks and posts the standards that each child is working towards. I am totally going to implement this.

I don't know if you can see this, but she posts every standard that is on the report card. Underneath these is a grid of student's names. As each child proves he/she knows the standard, she puts a check mark by that child's name. When they get three check marks, they color their name block in. Can you see how some are colored in? I chatted with some of the students in her class. They could explain the system to me quite well.

This is what I have been missing. I needed to refine what I was teaching based on what standards were required for the First Grade (and maybe in certain circumstances Kindergarten or Second Grade).

I taught her something too. She was so clear on how to share the math standards, but when it came to reading, she was confused. She told the kids they had to be at certain DRA levels, but I said, "well, it can be more clear than that." If you look at how the text changes and teach them this, they can see how to move up the levels. They can take ownership. So I left her with something I use...Levelled Reader Features. She was so happy and I was so happy. We were both, well, so happy. This was good.

It was better than any professional development I've ever attended and. just. what. I. needed. Renewed faith in what I do and who I am.